A unique streak

Tomorrow night, fans have a really rare opportunity to see something at Dodger Stadium that doesn’t happen very often. Andre Ethier goes for a 25-game hitting streak, the first time fans have have a chance to see that since Paul Lo Duca in 2003. Before that, it hadn’t happened since 1971 with Willie Davis (Steve Sax’s streak in 1986 finished on the road).

Three times in 40 years. That’s it.

That’s one of the really cool things about a streak. Fans can come and know that every Ethier at-bat will be special. It’s different than knowing on a given night you might see a perfect game or a guy hit four homers. You know you’re going to get a chance to witness some history tomorrow. Sure, he’s still seven away from the franchise mark of 31 games and he’s still a few games shy of HALFWAY to Joe DiMaggio, but what he’s doing right now is pretty impressive. Here’s hoping the Friday Night Fireworks start around 7:10 and continue well into the night.

Meanwhile, equally as impressive is what he’ll be doing during the day. Back in Spring Training, he committed to visiting City of Hope tomorrow for their annual reunion of bone marrow donors and their recipients, which is always a very special day at that amazing hospital. They’re one of our partners in ThinkCure and Andre is, of course, keeping his commitment to taking part in the event.

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This Ethieraholic is very proud of Andre, both on and off the field. It has been an awesome Dre’ today reading all these great things about Mr. Ethier. BTW – my class (really a clever mom, who happens to be a huge gnats fan) got me an 18″x20″ canvas photo of Andre. It was awesome! The only problem I have is I have no room on my Dodger wall for it – lol!!!

Andre proves over and over why we, Ethieraholics, love him. Not only is he a mighty fine ball player but, more important, he is a great man! Keep up the good work, Dre. I wish you nothing but the best.

I’m sorry, but, it was mentioned several times that Dre broke Joe Torre’s record for streak during the month of April…if that is wrong, then the people announcing the games should get their facts straight.

trublue4ever: Yes, Ethier did break the April hit record. But that’s never mentioned or referred to in this post that we’re commenting on. The 25-game streaks and the 31-game streak that are mentioned in this post are not just for April — how could they be when Ethier already has the April record at 24?

Ethier is 1/13 against Richard so hopefully he’s extend the streak to 25 games. Richard is 4-0 vs LA wonder which streak would end tonight? lol something tell me that we’ve got the wrong White Sox former pitcher and settle for Link and Ely.

This one is for all the little people
.http://www.last.fm/music/Frank+Sinatra/_/My+Way
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And now Bud Selig’s here
They say I face the final curtain
My friend I’ll say it clear
I’ll state my case of which I’m certain
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I’ve lived a life that’s full
I’ve had my hair cut every which way
Employees learned one thing for sure:
It’s my way or the highway
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Regrets, well, less than two
And even that one I will not mention
I did what I had to do
And did it all sans apprehension
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I planned each horrid move
Each careful step towards evil ruin
And more, much more than this
I loved the doin’
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Yes there were times I’m sure you knew
That I was out to kill Dodger Blue
But even though the hate mail grew
The property we still accrued,
I faced it all and though I’m small,
I did it my way
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I’ve filled the team with trash
No matter what, they’re still not losing
The fans, their teeth will knash
I find it all just so amusing
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To think I did all that
And now it’s the courts forever-and-a-day
Oh no, you’re not rid of me
You’ll do it my way
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For what is a man what has he got
If he can’t preen and be a big shot
To take a team with high ideals
And drag it through mud and courts of appeals
The record shows I did it under your nose
And did it my way
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Yes it was my way

Frank: You know, Ned, we don’t have much time left to really screw the fans, so I want this to go down this weekend.
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Ned: Whatcha talkin’ bout, Frankie?
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Frank: Trade Ethier for Juanpy.
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Ned: But what will Schieffer say?
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Frank: Screw him too. Besides, Schieffer is relying on Torre for all things baseball, and you know how much Torre loves Juanpy.
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Ned: Got it.
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Frank: One more thing. Trade Kemp for Coco Crisp.
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Ned: Okay, I always liked the Snap, Crackle, Pop!

Alright people, I can talk for myself, I just need boss to think for me. To answer certain questions that were asked of me, the reason I fake injuries to worthless PVLs and give away our prospects is because those PVLs are finished and come extremely cheap, while any young player has an upside and that might cost us and be less money for Bosses manicures and pedicures. Besides what’s more important, having a real Major League team or having an owner with nicely manicured appendages? I hope you all come out to the park to spend your money and watch Andre try to continue his streak. Boss and I appreciate your Patronage and any money that we take in will go as an immediate donation to the McCourt defense fund.

Haha, I think it’s time to rename this blog! Nobody’s interested in this team with no future, we just want McCourt gone so we can start looking forward to ending this ridiculous championship drought. “insideFrankMcCourtsColon.mlblogs.com” Is that url available? Maybe I’ll use it.

Streak or no streak, don’t forget that the way to keep the pressure on McCourt is to stay away from Dodger Stadium. We want empty seats!
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Last year’s home game 13 attendance was 38,456, on a Thursday against Milwaukee. Cutting that attendance significantly on a Friday night against the Puds will be a challenge, but aren’t we always up for the challenge?
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Here’s my challenge number: attendance should be no more than 29,999 tonight!
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To aid in the cause, Don Mattingly has agreed to start Ted Lilly, always a yawner!

Good afternoon everyone!!! Hope you are all having a great day!! Nice songs Frank-N-Beav!!! Got a good laugh from them!! Not sure how Frank is going to be able to keep making alimony payments, legal fees/retainers, and interest on all his debt now that Bud has cut off his access to Dodger revenue (both present and future) for his personal use!! I’m loving it!!! Jamie’s gonna be bringing the heat when her money stops coming!! It’s looking like bankruptcy may be Franks only way out!!! In my opinion that is probably our best bet for a speedy and less ugly resolution. Anyway, keep those seats empty!! It sends a very clear message to Bud and baseball about how the fans feel about the McCourts!!! Go Dodgers and Go Andre!! Extend that hit streak!!!

I love to see the EMPTY SEATS spirit here on ITD.
Hope the fans decide to watch Andre’s streak on TV.EMPTY SEATS mean empty pockets for you know who.
Come on, bankruptcy; come on IRS; come on Jamie; come on Schieffer – WE WANT NEW OWNERS!.FREE LA FROM MCCOURT NOW!!!

LA Dodgers Latest Victim of Financial Crisishttp://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2011/04/29/la-dodgers-latest-victim-financial-crisis/
“Where the McCourts fell down was in their approach to the team as an LA institution,” said D’Antonio. “I think people feel that. People feel they were too focused on the revenue streams and not enough on what the Dodgers meant to their fans and the city.”
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He certainly has a different perspective on the situation than does SoJerkOff.

I see that the poll LA Times is conducting is overwhelmingly in favor of the takeover. The poll they were reporting was conducted by Seton Hall University – like what would they know about Dodger fans, unless it was from 50 years ago when they were still in Brooklyn.

Amazing – it just gets uglier and uglier. Knowing Frank’s MO, he probably would have used the money from Fox to cover his financial “lapses” and fix the books to make it look like everything was ok. And that’s most likely why MLB won’t allow him to sign off on the Fox deal until after the audit is done. Just my opinion, of course.

Urgh Donny should’ve double switch with Navarro batting in the 9th hole and the new pitcher in Barajas spot. Oh great I freaking knew it I would’ve rather used Padilla for 2 innings instead of Broxton for 1. Maybe Broxton need the freaking weak Padres offense to get back on track.

In watching all the highlights during the post game show, it’s great seeing Andre do relaxed and animated! He is taking his leadership role to heart, and he actually seems to be enjoying all the ins and outs of the game.

We traded Jonathon Meloan for Casey Blake. We gave them Santana so that mccourt wouldn’t have to pay Blake’s $6 million salary for the rest of that season. Saving two months of Blake’s salary cost us one of the best catching prospects in baseball. About $2 million. That’s what Ned does. He pays worthless vets and releases young talent with nothing in return. mccourt just strips the team profits home. Well, he used to do that. Now he just uses the cash to pay off the interest on his loans.

Tru – Andre was clean-shaven so it must not be part of a superstition has. It has always appeared it was more of a road trip thing he does, but then again, it could be a matter of what Maggie and the boys want, Andre does :)

With boss and I in charge the team will crash, but it won’t matter because I have a great moustache. Why did Schieffer call me Flanders? Anyway, boss wants us to hold a McCourt bobble head night, he thinks it will really put more butts in the seats, after all boss is the brand, and the Dodgers come second. Hope everyone comes to the game tonight, my job might depend on it.

Somebody ought to throw Frank off the right field pavillion; make it a double if Soboroff is with him. Ned probably knows better than to show up in such high up places with so many Dodger fans around.ASSHOLES All.

One of the major reasons I dislike Frank McCourt is he is rife with a two-faced self-serving agenda. His inability to commit to the pipe dreams he comes up with to placate fans have hastened his downfall.

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For example, look at the way he’s handled the Stadium. Built in 1962, it’s now the 3rd oldest stadium in the bigs, and has a chance to be the oldest, due to its concrete construction. Dodger Stadium always had a place close to the fans’ hearts due to its emphasis on baseball. Not intrainning rat-races, not bells, whistles and loud music, but BASEBALL. A pristine, pastoral dream for those who wouldn’t think of dropping $20 of 1989 money to Ray Kinsella for his dream field. Other stadiums could have their rockpiles, playgrounds and swimming pools, but Dodger Stadium is for BASEBALL…

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Now, the Stadium is like a deformed ADD-afflicted behemoth, not knowing what it is. Loud music, enough flickering lights to give seizures to the visually impared, 10,000 distractions to take your attention away from the product that’s supposed to make you pay $15 for parking plus tickets in the first place.

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It wouldn’t surprise me if the new owner decided to raze Dodger Stadium and move downtown rather than give it a chance. Sadly, McCourt might’ve been the only person who could’ve brought it into the 21st century, possibly even seeing a decade or two in the 22nd, if he played his cards right. But he decided haircuts and doling out Dodger Money to his family Bundy-style was more prefarable to upkeeping the cathedral of a storied baseball franchise that’s his Bronze Medal, a team he wasn’t allowed to stay up late enough to watch as a kid, in the home of his least-liked basketball team. “Beat LA” was probably no stranger to McCourt’s vocabulary pre-2004.

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Will Dodger Stadium pay the ultimate price for McCourt’s infintile stupidity? Or will the next owner arise to the challenge of making Dodger Stadium the pride of the league again?

I shudder when I think of the possiblities, North. I have visions of a name other than Dodger Stadium or Chavez Ravine, if you prefer. Just look at the Oakland Colisium…it is now going to be named Overstock :) I’m sure the Raider fans sitting in the black-hole will love it!

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Not one month ago, McCourt and Media Blitz would’ve gone together like Lawerence Welk as the fifth member of KISS.

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Frank McCourt ignored his fans for YEARS.

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Ignoring us when we said security was a problem and too many gangbangers were getting in. Ignoring us when we were curious as to why we were paying more money for a continualy dwindling payroll on the field.

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Ignoring us when we wondered why the hell he would announce the divorce on the eve of the biggest night of his fanbase’s baseball lives in over 20 years.

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And yet, Bud steps on his manhood, and he’s crying to any news outlet that’ll hire Bidderman and Hobson to primp and pamper him for yet another photo op.

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The King of letting Dodger Tradition walk without even a phone call, the King of ignoring everybody is now wondering why the commissioner won’t return his phonecalls.

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He’s under the delusion that not only do the fans love him en masse (because no one wants to be beaten by the LAPD for telling him what they think in the Pavillion), but the fans want 17-20 more years of McCourt Brand (Bankrupt and Broke) Baseball.

One of the major reasons I dislike Frank McCourt is he is rife with a two-faced self-serving agenda. His inability to commit to the pipe dreams he comes up with to placate fans have hastened his downfall.

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The third proof of McCourt’s two-faced self-serving agenda is his handling of the team on the field.

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The need for the Ravine’s 10,000 distractions only becomes apparent when you realize that a Realtor with a Litigation fetish has no clue how to run a baseball team.

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Wanting to find ways to spend the least amount possible on the product that made his Dodger Blue ATM Card possible, McCourt shrunk payroll as he raised ticket prices across the board, making parking more expensive than the costliest box-office ticket to the ballgame just 7 years earlier.

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His FOX-farmed core of youngsters, an amalgamation of the Jacksonville Five, Andre Ethier and a much heralded youth movement in the early part of last decade, should’ve been a component to a Championship franchise.

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But to McCourt, if we were going to “compete”, this would be the boat that would take us there, loaded to capacity with has-beens, never-wases and whos-its with no one in their prime in sight.

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We have great players, but Kemp and Ethier should have been holding up the stars in ’08 and ’09, not held up as stars.

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We should have had our hand in every high-profile pitching prospect to compete with the Phillies, let alone the Yankees. We should’ve looked for someone in their prime to take the field with our core, not someone who no other team would touch (and now we know the reason).

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We should’ve been using the farm to trade for players in their prime, not paying 2 months of salary for players falling off the crest of their prime.

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Because a Realitor with a Litigation fetish would never understand that the way to make sure his Dodger Blue ATM Card would NEVER run out is to produce a championship product on the field. (Right, like a pre-’04 Boston baseball fan would know anything about that.).

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But this guy couldn’t even grasp that the Dodgers would have to compete with the AL East if it wanted to win trophies and rings.

And now Frank McCourt is begging us to give him a second chance, that the money-grubbing must have gone out the door with Jamie. But he’s not the one who should worry about getting a second chance from Los Angeles baseball fans.

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The man who should be begging Los Angeles Baseball Fans for a second chance is “savior” Commisioner Allan H. “Bud” Selig.

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Let’s leave the PED discussion on the bench for this one, I’m only talking about how he is implicated as the cause of this mess.

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The Owner’s Commish didn’t want the Dodgers becoming a West Coast version of the Yankees, though in order to milk that lucrative LA-NY rivalry, the Dodgers would have to compete on a consistent level similar to that of the Yankees. And the Dodgers’ system of stocking the farm with talent to either bring up to the bigs or trade for prime talent had worked through the early 90’s, but as that decade wore on, it became apparent to O’Malley that baseball was headed in an expensive direction. To compete, you had to pay, and and unfortunately for private owners, the bill came steep, so O’Malley bowed out.

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Under FOX ownership, the Dodgers were never afraid to spend. After trading what some would say was the heart, soul and future of the team for Florida TV rights, we soon had the first $100 Million Man (I thought it was a bust, but you gotta spend money to make money). For all the money they spent, though, FOX found out the reason that the high-spending Yankees didn’t win EVERY year. There was a lack of chemistry, but chemistry couldn’t be bought, it could only be farmed, the product of which we’ve been reaping the past 5 years.

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FOX had somewhat of an impure motivation in running the team: Rupert Murdoch wanted to find a new way to set a fire under Ted Turner, and since the news wasn’t enough, he decided to take their rivalry to the baseball field as well. But FOX soon found out that baseball was trickier than throwing money until the rings stick, so he eventually tired of baseball and, from the looks of it, put all of his development into the news.

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BUUUUuuuut, FOX wasn’t about to lose the TV Rights to the West Coast Yanks, so they threw an offer out there, sans TV Rights, biding time until they’d get a huge windfall for the tea… what’s that? Someone actually wanted to buy the team WITHOUT TV RIGHTS?!!! Quick, draw up a contract!!!! I DON’T CARE IF THE CONTRACT WRITERS’ ASLEEP, WAKE HIM UP!!!!

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Fourth-wall-and-space-time-continuum-breaking aside, it was thought that no one could buy the team without TV rights, because thats where the money comes from in the 21st century. You can only fit 56,000 in Dodger Stadium, but there’s millions of Dodger fans around the world.

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Weary of $100 million contracts and rising player salaries, Mr. Selig let this sale go through, thinking that by taking the second largest market out of the spending race, salaries would fall, and letting someone buy the team without naming rights would ensure they wouldn’t have enough money to compete at the trade deadline.

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Of course, it just meant that he loses out on the lucrative cross-country Dodgers-Yankees rivalry that had butressed Major League Baseball before his reign, and thanks to Boston’s even-more-compelling reason to spend big (having to compete with the Yanks just to get to the playoffs), salaries ballooned to heights unseen and unimagined.

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And now, under Bud’s Reign, and because of his decision, attendance is dropping at Dodger Stadium everyday. Even after his takeover. He’s managed to sink the unsinkable.

North, you said a mouthful and I agree with all of it. How disgusting to see Frank go begging in the right field pavilion seats. How disgusting to hear him say that he got the o.k. from his sons to talk about the divorce. His sons? And to think any of us feel sympathetic to what he and his family have been going through since the divorce became public. I have to believe someone advised Frank and Jamie that a public spat would result in a public relations nightmare and cause some heartache for their sons but these two people are too stubborn and too self centered to care. Does anyone really care that Frank and Jamie want a divorce? In fact, if these two people had been doing the right thing; had been decent and responsible “stewards” of the Dodgers, we might well be sympathetic. These two people actually deserve each other.

One thing that does seem clear. Frank may actually be telling the truth when he says the deal with Fox is essential to getting the financial noose lossened. All the more reason to prevent this deal from happening. Fox is as much a part of this story as any other player. Frank sold his soul when he agreed to a deal with no broadcasting rights. If the Fox deal Frank wants does get approved by MLB, the Dodgers and Dodger fans are doomed. While I still hold Bud Selig responsible for allowing the McCourt’s to purchase the Dodgers in the first place, I am glad he finally decided to step in and make things right. Hopefully it is not too late.

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(played that song out loud after the Lakers beat the Kings in their last game of the season. Mean? Probably, but I feel the dirty looks I’ve endured over the past decade justified it. No offense, Nelly.).

Since I doubt the L.A. Times will post this – what with everytime I mention taking responsibility for ones own actions is tends to get “lost”, I shall post it here. :)
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Frank appears to be conniving, narcissistic, and megalomaniacal. He also suffers from the great bane of today’s society in that he won’t accept responsibility for his own actions, preferring to play the victim instead. Its not my fault – the divorce did it to me. Or Bud. Or any of a number of other sources that have impaired him from getting his way. Why I suspect any day now he’ll bring up his mom and dad’s poor parental skills, teachers being too hard on him, kids poking fun of him, and the dog not liking him as other excuses for his ills. Woe is me, thy name is Frank.
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In reality, Frank is like any other little three year old that doesn’t like taking his medicine – yell and scream, cry, pitch a fit… anything to keep from swallowing that bitter taste. In my day though if you wouldn’t take your medicine orally, that left only one option – a suppository.
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Its time for the suppository now Bud.

Well as far as I’m concerned Frank is a lying son of a bitch!! I’m sure SoJackOff is behind the contrition and crocidile tears. If he really wants to show the fans how sorry he is he should sell 3 or 4 of the houses he bought with embezzled Dodger money and pay back the 100M!!!

Didn’t Frank try and justify the 100M, by saying it was simply a 50m loan, plus his and Jamie’s salary for the past 7 years. Although it seems to me, that salary was fronted in advance.
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GO AWAY FRANK!

Yeah jhall! Why can’t everyone just see that everything that comes out of his mouth is a lie?
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32, that happened to me a few nights ago. I went back and cut-and-pasted it into 3 separate posts. They all went through. Just don’t do them to quickly, you’ll get an error message telling you to slow down. Seriously. I wouldn’t wait for your post to be “moderated”. With the speed we get new threads, they’ll allow your post in about a week. Maybe.

As you can see, we’re slowly creeping towards a projected attendance of less than 3 million.
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I know a lot of people are saying that the drop has a lot to do with the economy, and that a lot of teams are experiencing losses in attendance. This much is true. I found a spot in baseball-reference that shows as much:http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/current_attendance.shtml
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If you do go there, like most of their stats, you can click the top of a column and it will sort for you. Click the last column, “DiffPerGame”. You’ll find us next-to-last, just above the Seattle Mariners. Yesterday we were dead last.
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You’ll also note that 1/3 of MLB is showing a plus in attendance, with the average MLB-wide is a drop of 603 per game. So yes, 2/3rds of the teams have lowered numbers. But we’re worse than just about everyone.
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I have to think that the mccourt-haters are making a difference. Of course, I’m extremely prejudiced. :-)

So, do you think the actual attendance and the paid attendance will actually be closer to each other as the season progresses. Or is it more the fact these season ticket holders are stuck with tickets they don’t want (meaning people aren’t buying their tickets on StubHub). There is a very visible difference in what is being reported as paid attendance and all the empty yellow seats.

Have you seen what the prices are on StubHub for those yellow seats? Holy crap! You’d have to look long and hard for a bigger Dodger fan than I am, but no way in HELL I’d EVER pay that kind of money for a seat to ANYTHING, unless it was a Beatles reunion. Are there actually that many idle rich?
.http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/LAD/2011-schedule-scores.shtml

I’m guessing that a large percentage of those yellow seat season ticket holders purchase the seats as mostly a money-making venture. They are probably casual fans who attend the occasional game but sell off the rest. Probably a cool tax dodge too. But when those $1000 seats go un-purchased, those season ticket holders are less likely to purchase them next year. Hence the drop from 27,000 season seats in ’07 to 17,000 now.
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To answer your question, I think that the attendance (as usual) will be more-or-less tied to team performance. As the season progresses, if the Dodgers are still “competitive” (and they most likely will be in this poor division), I think there’s a good chance some of these fans will return. As I’ve frequently said, I hope the team’s poor performance will contribute to the current downturn.

I agree with you (and any objective observer) that the actual attendance is considerably less than the tickets sold. It is almost always true in the best of times, but not to the extent it has been this season.

It kind of makes you wonder how the revenue is doing because with all of those “actual” empty seats, those empty seats aren’t buying food, drink and/or merchandise either. And that’s the ultimate goal for Frank to run out of money.

I was reading this article earlier this evening:http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-0501-dodgers-mccourt-divorce-20110501,0,3305568.story
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“An analysis of the Dodgers’ finances conducted for The Times last year by Holthouse, Van Carlin and Trigt, the largest accounting firm in Southern California, and based on data through the 2009 season, showed that the McCourts could sell the team for $800 million but walk away with about $80 million each, after debts and deferred taxes were paid.”

How in the world can mccourt ask for everyone to forgive and forget when the team he “bought” in ’04 has 1) doubled in value, 2) finished 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 1st and 2nd in league attendance and only come out with 10% in a sale? Sorry, clown. You had your chance. Sell the team and see if you purchase another one someday. Maybe you’ll have better luck. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! And HA!

Good Sunday Morning All…
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I have enjoyed all the comments, songs, and passion this blog brings…
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.500 – Which way are we gonna go?
. Let’s Go Dodgers,Let’s Go!!
. Enjoy the 1st day of May everybody, and enjoy the game today!

I know this is old news, but this is a good read about X-Paul and sums up how inept our management has been in the McCourt era!! It makes me sick to see the talent we have just given away for nothing. Ned is a baffoon. Acquiring players like Garrett Anderson, Reed Johnson, Jay Gibbons, and Marcus Thames and not giving a talented prospect like Paul a real look. Geez!!!

I guess any post that is over a few paragraphs long will be held up for moderator review. By the time it is approved, the blog might be on a new thread!
Using a DVR really creates a time warp. I am a couple of hours behind real time so some of the comments here are spoilers for me. WTG Andre even though I haven’t caught up to your streak prolonging AB yet.

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